INTEGRATED ADVANCED INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
NIH GUIDE, Volume 21, Number 29, August 14, 1992
PA NUMBER: PA-92-100
P.T. 34
Keywords:
Information Science/Systems
National Library of Medicine
PURPOSE
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) wishes to provide planning and
implementation grants to health science institutions that seek
assistance in integrating their existing scattered databases and
information systems into a comprehensive networked institutional
information management system capable of serving clinical, research,
educational, and administrative needs.
The Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems (IAIMS) program
described in this Program Announcement (PA) is a substantially revised
version of the NLMs existing IAIMS program, first announced in 1982.
HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000
The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health
promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000,"
a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas. This PA,
Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems, is related to the
priority area of surveillance and data systems. Potential applicants
may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full Report: Stock No.
017-001-00474-0 or Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through
the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202-783-3238).
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Applicants may be hospitals and medical centers, academic health
science centers, and other appropriate health science organizations.
Institutions that have received funding for Phase III "old" IAIMS
projects may apply for other grant programs of the NLM, but are not
eligible for "new" IAIMS support. All others, including those that
have applied for IAIMS funding in the past, may apply to the revised
program.
MECHANISM OF SUPPORT
The mechanism of support for this PA is the medical library resource
grant (G08). This grant mechanism only funds direct costs.
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
Background
In 1983 the NLM initiated an award program to provide "assistance to
medical centers and health science institutions for planning and
development projects leading to the implementation of Integrated
Academic Information Management Systems (IAIMS)." The program
announcement went on to say, "IAIMS are institution-wide computer
networks that link and relate library systems with individual and
institutional databases and information files, within and external to
the institution, for patient care, research, education, and
administration. The goal is to create an organizational mechanism
within health institutions to more effectively manage the knowledge of
medicine, and to provide for a system of comprehensive information
access."
During the next decade over seventy institutions applied for IAIMS
grants in one or another of the 3 defined phases, and through FY 1991
26 awards had been made to 16 institutions. The importance of
information management today is as great as ever, but the program
elements as originally defined by NLM deserve re-evaluation. Lessons
have been learned from a decade of experience; furthermore, the climate
has changed significantly as a number of institutions made extensive
investments in information systems in recent years; most importantly,
the advent of the High Performance Computing and Communications
Initiative (HPCC) has dramatically enriched the possibilities of
information transfer, while increasing the complexity of information
management.
The NLM is the lead biomedical organization in the federal Government's
HPCC initiative. The HPCC program recognizes "that unprecedented
computational power and its creative use are needed to investigate and
understand a wide range of scientific and engineering `grand challenge'
problems." (1) Some of the problems identified are of obvious interest
to biomedicine: National Research and Education Network (NREN),
biotechnology, transmission of digital images, intelligent gateways to
retrieve information from several life sciences databases, and
innovations in educational techniques, among others.
Accordingly, NLM is revising its IAIMS program with:
o A name change: replacing "academic" with "advanced" recognizes the
wide applicability of the IAIMS concept and the need to incorporate new
technology
o Fusion of the old phases II and III (model and implementation) into
one operational phase
o Changes in the level of support
o Some modification of the scope and conditions of the grant
o Incorporation of HPCC into the NLM vision of an integrated
information management system.
The Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems (IAIMS) Program
The revised IAIMS program has two phases: A planning phase, and an
operational phase.
1. IAIMS Planning Phase
"New" IAIMS planning phase resembles Phase I of the "old" IAIMS.
Various models can be used in information systems planning, but all
applications should include some form of self-study and allow for
certain key elements:
o A description of the institution's information management resources,
current and five-year projection;
o Development of an institutional information policy that addresses
both short-term and long-term goals;
o Identification of leadership for planning;
o Broad involvement of clinical and basic science faculty,
administration, and students;
o Specification of desired strategic outcomes;
o An outline of the planning process, including goals and timetables;
and
o A comprehensive view that considers information needs of patient
care, research, education, and administration.
The outcome of planning activities is the development of an
institutional Information Management Plan, which should include
information resources management policies, an analysis of functions and
responsibilities of major information database managers, and a
description of how IAIMS will be developed, organized, and managed.
A total separation between planning and operations is not mandated;
institutions vary widely in the information system already in place at
the time of application. An institution may, if it wishes, use or
introduce some operational elements during this planning period (for
example, an E-mail system.)
The IAIMS planning grant may be for up to $150,000 per year for one to
two years. The grant supports direct costs only; funds are not
provided for indirect or overhead costs.
2. IAIMS Operational Phase
Health science institutions that complete the IAIMS planning phase
successfully (or can demonstrate a comparably sophisticated information
management plan based on their own planning efforts) may apply to NLM
for an IAIMS operational phase grant to assist them in implementing the
plan. Plans will vary for different institutions, but certain key
elements are of interest to all:
A. Essential
o A plan for developing the institution's information management
resources, and the requisite networks;
o A functional Information Management Policy;
o Designation of leadership with appropriate background and status;
o A plan for supporting IAIMS after termination of the grant;
o Timetables for reaching key features of the operational plan;
o Reasonable timetables for major plan features such as development of
the network, organization of the management structure, appointment of
the leadership, and post-grant financing plans. The ability of funded
institutions to reach such milestones in a timely manner will be
evaluated by the NLM when deciding annually on continuance of funding;
o The ability to provide efficiently bibliographic and related
literature pertinent to health care delivery and research. Significant
participation by the health sciences library is essential; and
o Substantial incorporation of one or more elements of HPCC/NREN into
the institution's information system. Connection to Internet, for
example, is one such element; other examples include collaboration
through high speed networks, distance learning, addressing of
computationally intensive problems in molecular biology in a
distributed environment, visualization techniques, and network-based
digital imaging.
B. Highly Recommended
o A clear relationship to clinical aspects of the health sciences,
such as linkage with a computerized patient record, a hospital
information system, clinical alert information/distribution systems,
clinically relevant expert systems, and/or systems for monitoring
quality of care and cost-control; and
o Incorporation of current NLM objectives such as, connection to
national networks, direct access to Medline and/or extensive use of
Grateful Med, outreach components which improve information access for
health care workers in underserved rural or inner city locations, and
in other health care sites affiliated with the applicant.
C. Optional
o An apprenticeship in IAIMS may be incorporated into the operational
plan at the discretion of the applicant, through a position entitled
IAIMS Assistant. An educational program should be described, outlining
the credentials of the candidates, the goals and duration of the
apprenticeship, the structure of the learning experience, and other
relevant material. Personnel, travel and supply costs may be requested
up to a total of $50,000 for each year of the operational phase. Costs
for apprentices should be budgeted in accordance with standard
institutional policy.
Other Information About the Operational Grant
The operational phase grant application may include an initial period
of model development at the discretion of the institution, but a
distinct interim period of model-building is not required.
Operational phase grants may be for up to $500,000 per year for five
years, or for up to $550,000 per year for five years if support for the
apprenticeship program is included. Only direct costs are supported.
NLM support for IAIMS at an institution will terminate at the end of
the five-year operational phase, and is not renewable.
The word "institution" as used in this program description implies that
IAIMS will involve all major organizational components of the
institution to the extent feasible. The NLM realizes that large
differences among medical centers are inevitable, and that at some
sites, certain suborganizations may not be suitable for incorporation
into the initial IAIMS plan. However, a plan that is restricted to a
relatively small fraction of the institution has misunderstood the
point of the program, and will not be favorably reviewed.
APPLICATION PROCEDURES
Applicants are to use the PHS 398 (rev.9/91) application form, that
includes forms, instructions and additional information, available at
most academic medical centers, the Extramural Programs office, NLM, at
the address listed under INQUIRIES, and from the Office of Grants
Inquiries, Division of Research Grants, National Institutes of Health,
Westwood Building, Room 449, Bethesda, MD 20892, telephone 301/
496-7441. Applications must be received by the standard NIH deadlines,
October 1, February 1, and June 1. Late submissions will be held over
for the subsequent review cycle. The title and number of this
announcement must be typed in item 2a on the face page of the
application.
The completed original application and five legible copies must be sent
or delivered to:
Division of Research Grants
National Institutes of Health
Westwood Building, Room 2450
Bethesda, MD 20892**
REVIEW PROCEDURES
Applications will be assigned on the basis of established PHS referral
guidelines. Applications will be reviewed for scientific and technical
merit by the NLM Biomedical Library Review Committee, in accordance
with the standard NIH peer review procedures. Following
scientific-technical review, the application will receive a
second-level review by the NLM Board of Regents.
Critical Review Elements
For Planning Phase:
o Responsiveness to the program description and guidelines;
o Institutional environment;
o Extent of involvement by key leadership; and
o Short and long-term goals.
For Operational Phase:
o Responsiveness to the program description and guidelines;
o Institutional commitment to the IAIMS concept, including evidence of
significant cost-sharing;
o Plans for support of IAIMS after the granting period; and
o Sophistication and feasibility of the operational plan.
AWARD CRITERIA
Applications will compete for available funding with all other
applications assigned to the NLM. The following will be considered in
making funding decisions:
o Quality of the proposed project as determined by peer review;
o Availability of funds; and
o Program balance considerations.
INQUIRIES
Written and telephone inquiries are encouraged. The opportunity to
clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome.
Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to:
Mr. Richard T. West
Extramural Programs
National Library of Medicine
Bethesda, MD 20894
Telephone: (301) 496-3113
FAX: (301) 402-0421
Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to:
Ms. Ellen G. Meltzer
Extramural Programs
National Library of Medicine
Bethesda, MD 20894
Telephone: (301) 496-4253
FAX: (301) 402-0421
AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS
This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
No. 93.879. Awards are made under authorization of the PHS Act, Title
III, Part A, Section 301, Title IV, Part D, Subpart 2, Sections
472-476, as amended, Public Law 100-607. This program is not subject
to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372
or Health Systems Agency review.
REFERENCE
(1) Grand Challenges 1993: High Performance Computing and
Communications
To obtain a copy of this report, which was prepared for the President's
Office of Science and Technology Policy, call the IAIMS Program Officer
(see above) or send request to: Federal Coordinating Council for
Science, Engineering, and Technology Committee on Physical,
Mathematical, and Engineering Sciences c/o National Science Foundation
Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate 1800 G
St., NW, Washington, DC 20550.
.